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Property Management Software
FAQ > Managing Tenant and Lease Agreement Information
- Where do I enter Lease for my tenants?
- How do I move out a tenant?
- How do I track Security deposit?
- How do I delete a tenant row?
- How can I add notes to my lease terms? Where do these notes show up?
- How do I view my lease terms?
- How do I edit my lease terms?
- How do I get rid of a bad lease that was setup?
- How do I handle rent increase for a tenant without losing my transactions recorded for my old lease?
- How do I track multiple tenants residing in the same unit?
- How can I enter my old tenant lease transactions and continue to enter new tenant information for someone who moved into the same unit?
- How can I automate rent reminders for my tenants?
- How can I print my monthly rent reminder?
- How can I view all the rent reminders sent to my tenant(s)?
- How is the Billing history different from the payment history report?
- How can I add new tenants to my properties?
- Why can't I assign a new tenant to a unit?
- I want to move back in a tenant that I moved out by mistake
- How to send a late rent notice to my tenant that includes late fee in it?
1. Where do I enter Lease for my tenants?
In SimplifyEm, you can add a Tenant and Lease information on the "Tenants and Leases" page:
Managing your tenants and their leases with Simplify'em is as simple as 1-2-3 !
1. Click on"Add Tenant Info" link to add Tenant information and assign them to a unit. Remember, you cannot have more than one tenant assigned to the same unit.
2. Next, add the tenant's lease information - like the lease term and start date. SimplifyEm will start tracking your lease terms from the month you enter the lease in the system. If you choose to enter data for earlier months for the lease, SimplifyEm will allow you to track the lease for previous months which are valid for the lease.
Once you enter billing information - like rent due, due dates, and late fees - you're done! Simplify'em knows who is supposed to pay you, how much, and when... it will also know what to do when you haven't received rent, and can send 'Automatic Rent Reminders' to make sure you get paid on time!
2. How do I move out a tenant?
You can move out a tenant from the"Manage Tenants" page.
1. Go to the"Manage Tenants" page and select the property in which the tenant resides.
2. Go over the Unit# for the tenant, and you will see the drop-down menu. Select"Tenant Moved Out" option.
3. This will bring up the"Move Out Details" window for the tenant. Enter the date the tenant moved out and any amount that you returned from the deposit you collected and save.
When you move out a tenant, SimplifyEm will:
• Mark the lease as expired
• Move the tenant under the"Expired Lease" section
• The row for this tenant will be discontinued on the worksheet.
• All transactions entered for this tenant on the worksheet are kept.
3. How do I track Security deposit?
In SimplifyEm, to track security deposits, enter the amount when setting up the lease for the tenant and it appears in the tenant report and the tenant payment history report.
If a tenant moves out and you have kept any portion of the security deposit, IRS requires you to report it as Income.
When the tenant moves out, SimplifyEm will ask you how much of the deposit amount you returned or if you returned all of it. Based on this, SimplifyEm will record the remaining amount as"Rental Income" on your worksheet. If you used any portion of the deposit amount for any expense on the unit, don't forget to enter it on the worksheet!
Note: Remember to record expense transaction if there were balancing expenses for what the security deposit was used for.
4. How do I delete a tenant row?
To get rid of a tenant row that you don't need on the worksheet, see details on" How do I delete a row from the worksheet?"
5. How can I add notes to my lease terms? Where do these notes show up?
You can add notes to your lease terms when adding lease terms for a tenant. These notes will show up on the tenant payment history report.
6. How do I view my lease terms?
To view your lease terms for a tenant:
1. Go to"Manage Tenants" page and select the property in which the tenant is residing.
2. Select the tenant row by clicking on the row. When you do this, the"Lease Terms" widget on the right side of the page shows you all the details of the lease terms. You can click on the EDIT link to edit the lease terms.
7. How do I edit my lease terms?
Let's take a specific example to walk through how you can edit lease terms for a tenant -
My initial lease terms for my tenant were for $100/month. After 6 months I decide to raise the rent amount to $150/month. To make this change, I will edit my current lease terms as follows:
1. Go to the"Manage Tenants" page and select the property in which the tenant is renting.
2. Mouse over the Unit number for the tenant, and you will see the drop-down menu. Select"Edit Lease Info" option.
3. This will bring up the"Lease Information" window showing your current lease terms and other lease details.
To change my rent amount, I will click on the"Edit Lease Terms" link for my tenant on the"Lease Information" window and enter my new rent amount of $150/month with the new lease dates.
If you had previous transaction recorded for the initial lease terms for the tenant row on the worksheet, changing the lease terms will result in a new row for the edited lease on the worksheet for my tenant. So when you go to the worksheet, you will see two rows for the tenant: 
• Tenant - tenant row with the edited lease terms
• Tenant -Inactive Lease - the old transactions are kept with the initial lease terms of $100/month.
NOTE: SimplifyEm creates a new row on the worksheet for a tenant every time you:
1. Edit any of the initial lease terms
And
2. If you have previous rents recorded for you tenants for the initial lease terms
because any changes in the lease terms (amount/dates/payment frequency) affects the previous recorded rents tied to the initial lease and how they are allocated for reports.
If you do not care about the initial lease row and want to get rid of the row entirely from the worksheet, see details on" How do I delete a row from the worksheet?"
8. How do I get rid of a bad lease that was setup?
If you are new to SimplifyEm and are just exploring, you will be setting up leases for tenant rows which are not real. J
To get rid of any of the bad tenant/lease rows that you don't need on the worksheet, see details on" How do I delete a row from the worksheet?"
9. How do I handle rent increase for a tenant without losing my transactions recorded for my old lease?
Please see details on" How do I edit my lease terms?".
10. How do I track multiple tenants residing in the same unit?
In order to track multiple tenants in the same unit, you need to:
1. Go to Customize Worksheet page and then under the"Other Income" section select"Add New Item". You can add your additional tenants this way.
2. This will create tenant rows on the worksheet and you can enter the rents received from each tenant.
NOTE: However you will not be able to setup multiple leases in"Manage Tenants" for all tenants if the number of tenants entered is greater that the number of Units in the property. Remember, each tenant in the rent received section of the customize page that is checked is treated as a unit from a SimplifyEm pricing perspective.
11. How can I enter my old tenant lease transactions and continue to enter new tenant information for someone who moved into the same unit?
SimplifyEm does not allow you to have two tenants assigned the same unit. If you are new to SimplifyEm and want to track all tenants who have occupied the same Unit from the beginning of the year, do the following steps:
- Add the tenant and lease information for the first tenant that occupied the Unit at the beginning of the year on the"Manage Tenants" page.
- Go to the worksheet and enter all rents received from this tenant that you would like to track on the tenant row that is created.
- Now, move out this tenant from the manage tenant page so that this Unit is marked vacant.
- Next, add a new tenant, and add the new tenant information and assign the same unit. Add lease information for this new tenant. SimplifyEm will create a new row on the worksheet when you add a new tenant and assign a unit.
- You can now continue to enter all rents received from this tenant on the worksheet.
Repeat Step 3 and Step 4 if there are other tenants who have occupied the unit.
12. How can I automate rent reminders for my tenants?
Billing tenants is a good way to make sure they don't forget to pay rent on time. It's also a good reminder to them that the rent check is a higher priority than other bills they may have, and that you are serious about getting paid on time. You can use tenant billing to automatically send 'Rent Reminders' 3 days before the rent is due.
1. Go to the"Manage Tenants" page and select the property in which the tenant resides.
2. Select the tenant row you want to setup rent reminders for, and mouse over the"take action" menu to the right of the row. You will see"Automate Rent Reminders" option.
3. If this is you first time setting up a rent reminder, you will be asked to enter YOUR contact information before you begin to setup the rent reminders. This is the information that will be displayed on the rent reminder invoice.
4. Clicking on the"Automate Rent Reminders" link or the"Continue to Automate Rent Reminders" button will bring up the"Automate Rent Reminders" window for the tenant. On the"Automate Rent Reminder" window, select how you would like to send your rent reminders:
a. You can either email you rent reminders . SimplifyEm will send 'Rent Reminders' 3 days before the rent is due. You tenant will have to click on the UNIQUE link that is emailed to them to view the invoice.
b. You can setup rent reminders so that you can print and mail them to your tenants . To print the auto-generated rent reminders, you will need to go to the Billing History page for the tenant.
13. How can I print my monthly rent reminder?
The Billing History page will allow you to view and print rent reminders for your tenants.
1. Go to the"Manage Tenants" page and select the property your tenant resides in.
2. Select the tenant row you want to view the rent reminder for, and mouse over the"take action" menu to the right of the row. Click on the"View Billing History" option.
3. Once you are on the Billing History page, click on the rent reminder you want to preview and print it from there window that comes up. You may also print old rent reminders the same way.
14. How can I view all the rent reminders sent to my tenant(s)?
The Billing History page will allow you to view and print all your rent reminders for each tenant.
1. Go to the"Manage Tenants" page and select the property your tenant resides in.
2. Click on the"Billing History" link on the"Manage Tenants" page to go to the Billing History page. Select the tenant name you want to view the billing history for. You can then click on any of the rent reminder links to view and print them out.
15. How is the Billing history different from the payment history report?
'Billing History' page in SimplifyEm lists all the Tenant Bills i.e. rent reminder that have been sent to a tenant or that are next due.
'Payment History Report' is a report that will show a tenants lease details including the balance due till date. You can also Print this report for your records.
If you are a property manager, you can send the Payment History Report your property owner.
16. How can I add new tenants to my properties?
To add new tenants to your property:
1. Go to "Manage Tenants" page and select the property you want to add your tenant to.
2. Click on the "Add Another Tenant" link to add a new tenant row on the page.
3. Next, add the tenant information and lease information for this new tenant so that SimplifyEm can create a row on the worksheet to enter data.
NOTE: SimplifyEm will not allow you to assign units to more tenants than the number of units in your property.
17. Why can't I assign a new tenant to a unit?
If you already have a tenant who is assigned to a unit, SimplifyEm will not allow you to assign a new tenant to the unit. Please move out the previous tenant to assign the unit to your new tenant.
18. I want to move back in a tenant that I moved out by mistake.
If you moved out a tenant by mistake and want to move them back in, SimplifyEm makes this easy for you.
Follow these steps:
1. Go to the "Customize Worksheet" page for a selected property. (Remember, this is the page you always come to after you add a new property.)
You can also click on the "Customize Worksheet" link under the Income or Expense section of your worksheet for a property.
2. On the customize worksheet page, under the Rent Receive section, you will find that the"moved out" tenant is not selected (unchecked).
You can just select this tenant (check mark it again), and this tenant row will start appearing again on the worksheet with the same lease terms.
NOTE: You will not be able to move in a tenant if the unit they are being assigned to is already occupied.
19. How to send a late rent notice to my tenant that includes late fee in it?
If your tenant is late on rent, SimplifyEm shows you how much the tenant owes by showing a "red" flag on the worksheet and "overdue" state on the manage tenant page. SimplifyEm also allows you to send late rent notices to the tenant, provided you have their email address entered.
Here is what you can do:
1. Go to the "Manage Tenants" page and select the property your tenant resides in.
2. Select the tenant row you want to send the late rent notice to, and mouse over the"take action" menu to the right of the row. Click on the "Send Late Rent Notice" option.
Note: you will see the "Send Late Rent Notice" option for a tenant only if the tenant is late on rent.
3. This will open the "Send Late Rent Notice" window. The message section includes all the dates the rent was late for. You can customize this message to include any late fees you want to charge the tenant.
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